I have been trying to find
something positive to write about the recent Israeli elections. I just cannot. There
is simply nothing good about it. It simply is just the continuation of the
status quo and that is not good for Palestinians and really not good for
Israelis as well. For the Palestinians,
the status quo means the continuation of the occupation and the deprivation of
the human spirit to be free. For the Israelis, it means that the lack of a
clear expressive desire for peace in the election outcome ignores the ever
increasing demographic boiling point which is turning Israel into the old
Apartheid regime of South Africa.
The basic result of the Israeli
election is that the right wing and center-right parties are likely to end up
with 61 of the legislative seats in the Israeli Knesset, thus continuing the
status quo of the Benjamin Netanyahu Government.
The status quo of domination over
the Palestinians is what Israel wants for the region but this only exasperates
and heightens the inevitable inner Palestinian human spirit to evolve towards
the will to be free. Israel prefers hegemony over--instead of homogeny with--the
Palestinians; it would rather dominate the Palestinians rather than treat them
with equality. This is the crust of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The
result of the Israeli elections elevated this inherent perplexity to the forefront;
yet, Israelis seem oblivious to the fact that this clash between Israeli
dominance and the Palestinian spirit to be free will come crashing down when
the current trends in the demographics will result in an anticipated
Palestinian majority in 2016.
I have written about the human
spirit to be free and my article can be read at http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6942645014941809001#editor/target=post;postID=7408208507238483659.
In essence, I argue that inevitably Israel cannot suppress the will of 4.29
million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who desire to be free of
occupation and a relentless siege. By
2016, it is projected that the Palestinian population in Israel, West Bank and Gaza
will outnumber the Israeli non-Arab population.
Suppressing the Palestinian desire to
be free perpetuates the status quo. Keeping the status quo is rooted in the aspiration
of maintaining a Jewish homeland as Jews around the world feel secure in having
Israel be a safe haven given world history of atrocities toward Jews. Thus, The
Israeli election also tells me that Israelis are horrified of losing the
concept of a Jewish homeland and therefore are clinging onto the status quo.
Given the history of the Jewish people, that fear is warranted; but this aspiration
driven by historical fear comes at the expense of the Palestinian people. Finding a solution that would alleviate that fear
while acknowledging the inevitability of the Palestinian human spirit to be
free is what is needed to resolve the conflict.
The Israeli election did not shift
Israeli politics to the left or right but rather left it smack where it has
been—standing still. Peace talks are
standing still because Palestinians feel that there is no use in endless talks
that lead to nowhere. The Occupation of
Palestinian land is standing still—continuing in its fifth decade. Yet the fermenting Israeli suppression of
Palestinian aspirations is about to boil over. The Israeli elections did not alleviate this
tension.
Israelis have consistently
expressed security concerns in the 20 plus years of attempts at trying to
negotiate a final solution with the Palestinians. I interpret this security concern to mean a
safe haven for Jews all over the world. This security may ultimately be elusive however,
if it comes at the expense of the Palestinians, for the natural course of human
development is to be free from the oppressor’s chains that bind the collective
individual conscience.
This has been demonstrated time and
time again with the thirteen American colonies breaking away from the British
King; with the French masses overthrowing the absolute monarchy; with Black
South Africans breaking the White Minority Rule apartheid chains; with Gandhi leading
his people to overthrow the mighty British Empire; with the eventual American realization that slavery cannot long endure; and with many countless other
examples where peoples all over the globe repelled imperialist colonial hegemony.
The Palestinian human spirit is no
different than the American colonists, the French masses, India’s masses and
the Black South Africans. The Israeli
election did not negate the Palestinian spirit; in fact that spirit has regenerated
and grows with each Palestinian generation.
The social revolution which opens
the world to all also opens the spirits of the Palestinian people. Palestinians
are not oblivious to the freedoms enjoyed around the world and they desire that
same freedom in their daily lives. As
Palestinians interact with the globe community on social network sites, their human
spirit to be free grows. Social networks exponentially inspire the Palestinian
youth to lift off the chain that suppresses their collective bondage that the Israeli
occupation imposes upon them.
The Israeli election takes little
note of this growing social internet revolution and shows that Israelis would
rather continue to believe that the colonial aspirations of the past several
centuries is still prevalent in today’s age. That belief is antiquated and it
leaves Israel further isolated around the family of nations.
Recently, the Palestinian human
spirit has gained from international recognition and international
intervention. The upgrade in Palestine’s
status at the United Nations has inspired Palestinians in that it gave them
faith in the world community, while the truce between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the US and Egypt and international
pressure against a ground assault, excited the Palestinian will to fight off
Israeli aggression.
Again, the Israeli election results
seemed oblivious to growing worldly sentiment that the Palestinian human spirit
is on the road towards freedom. The question is will Israelis ride along with
the Palestinians or will Israelis fate be that of the White Minority rulers of
South Africa.
Israeli’s fate is really in their hands—or more
accurately in their right to vote.
Palestinian’s fate is in the natural evolution of their human spirit.
